CRICKET
CRICKET LATROBE VALLEY
By LIAM DURKIN
LOCAL cricketers returned from their Christmas sabbatical at the weekend.
A new year presented an unfortunately familiar sight, the type usually seen at the start of each season.
Premier A Grade
OF the four Cricket Latrobe Valley Premier A matches, three were abandoned due to a late afternoon storm.
Morwell emerged from Round 9 as the biggest winner, both actually and figuratively, gaining the only points for the round.
Those six points will likely prove more than handy for the Tigers in the long run, given they are now essentially a game clear in third (five points).
Morwell def Raiders by 6 wickets
MORWELL beat the storm against Raiders, getting the required runs inside 30 overs on the Yinnar Turf.
The home side batted first in the one day affair, and got off to a solid start thanks to the work of George Cheshire and Rob Webber up top.
The pair put on 72, before the dismissal of Webber for 33 led to a steady loss of wickets.
Cheshire departed a short time later for 43, and from 1/98 Raiders were all out for 166.
Morwell skipper Blair Clymo cleaned up the middle order, with his off breaks netting figures of 3/24.
Dylan Day chipped in with 2/35, while the work of fellow seamer Tim Ford (1/19 off eight overs) ensured the Tigers were able to control tempo.
Ford then steered the visitors to victory with an enterprising 58 not out off 61 balls.
Coming in at number five, the all-rounder combined with Jordan Campbell in an 80 run partnership for the fourth wicket.
Campbell played the supporting role to perfection, making 34 off 50 balls.
When he was dismissed in the 19th over Morwell needed 24 to win, which they achieved 10 overs later still only four down.
Tom Robertson gave Raiders an early look at a sneaky win, taking two wickets in the sixth over of the innings.
At that stage the score was 3/42, however it wasn’t long before the equation was back in Morwell’s favour.
Centrals v Moe – ABANDONED
CENTRALS and Moe were locked in a good battle at Apex Park.
The visiting Lions decided to bowl first, and made the absolute most of conditions, reducing the home side to 3/4.
Left arm quick Keenan Hughes turned into Wasim Akram with the white ball, knocking over Sam Gray and Tye Hourigan for globes.
Centrals were forced to rebuild, with young Lachlan Speairs holding up an end for 149 balls in a determined effort of 59.
His resistance helped the home side get to the last over of the innings, where they ended with 128 on the board.
Hughes led by example, taking 4/28 assuming the captaincy from the absent Noah Kane.
Layteen Smith also took two wickets, in what was a solid first half for Moe that saw all six bowlers used take poles.
With the storm threat obvious, some DLS calculations were made.
A minimum 20 overs needed to be reached, but this ultimately became null and void as the innings was washed away after 12.
Moe was 3/22 when rain fell, yet amazingly the DLS target would have only been 50 had the game gone another eight overs down that path.
Some intrigue must have followed the abandonment given Moe’s best batsman Andrew Philip was out, and their two next most recognised bats in Nathan Lee and Hughes would more than likely go down swinging.
A side note to the brief innings was the promotion of Jordan Shields to open the batting, where he was pitted against former Sri Lankan test opening bowler Nuwan Pradeep.
Shields has had a very productive last six months in football and cricket. He made his senior football debut for Moe Football-Netball Club, kicked a goal with his first kick in senior footy, played in three senior finals, won Moe’s under 18 best and fairest, was Gippsland League player of the interleague carnival, dismissed a former international cricket captain, was named in the Herald Sun top 150 young cricketers, and has now faced a test match opening bowler.
CATS v Ex Students – ABANDONED
COULD CATS have won this?
CATS were 0/31 in pursuit of 150 posted by Ex Students before play was brought to a halt at John Black Oval.
Revised conditions reduced the game to 40 overs.
The Sharks backed themselves batting first, and despite slumping to 2/14, scratched out a competitive total.
Captain Jimmy Pryde did most of the heavy lifting, making 43, as the middle and lower order scraped together every run they could find.
Pryde’s opposite number in CATS skipper Jamie Cochrane did likewise for his team, finishing with figures of 4/30.
Rory Hare (2/40) and Ben Hagley (2/41) provided good foil.
CATS batted for just 5.5 overs, but were going at just about a run-a-ball, which may well have set up a tight finish once the field was spread.
Despite no result being reached, players on both sides may have garnered positive thoughts toward the idea of 40 over one dayers.
All other leagues in Gippsland (excluding Bairnsdale) play 40 over one dayers, and feedback from most players is that games are still long enough to constitute serious competition.
Matches can fit neatly inside a five hour window, and only five bowlers are needed to bowl a maximum of eight overs each.
Glengarry v Toongabbie – ABANDONED
TOONGABBIE would have only been singing one song in the sheds last Saturday night.
The Rams surely had The Sweet Escape by Gwen Stefani on repeat after being 1/20 chasing 223 against Glengarry.
The flag favoured Magpies racked up their imposing total on Fred King Oval, with half-centuries coming from Al Jenkin (69) and Frank Marks (a run-a-ball 62), along with Conor Robson who made 34.
Gayashan Munasinghe had some joy for Toongabbie, taking 2/44.
Just 6.2 overs were completed in the second half.
Perhaps alarmingly for other teams, Glengarry was without Nat Freitag, recovering from Vic Country duty (story on Page 35).
The Magpies still had reason to celebrate however, with 10 year premiership reunions taking place back in the rooms.
Glengarry’s 2014/15 first grade triumph is arguably one of the greatest in Traralgon District Cricket Association history.
Chasing 288 against Ex Students, the Magpies took it past 100 overs on Day 2 to win five down.
Hayden Ross-Schultz played the innings of his life, scoring 136.
The Magpies and Sharks played in another astonishing decider just two seasons ago, with the spoils again going the way of Glengarry following a Max Merten six in the last over.
Perhaps his judgement was clouded in the heat of the moment, but one Glengarry official told this reporter that win topped 2014/15.
A Grade
ROUND 9 of Cricket Latrobe Valley returned a mixed bag of margins in A Grade one day action at the weekend.
The pacesetter took up where they left off at Christmas, while its nearest challenger got back to business after a few indifferent weeks leading into the festive season.
Churchill def Rovers by 10 wickets
CHURCHILL must have got Rovers on a really good day the first time around.
That is not to discredit Rovers’ early season victory over the Cobras, but given Churchill defeated Rovers by 10 wickets at the weekend, you could be forgiven for thinking how such a contrasting performance could occur.
Rovers were inside the top four on the ladder heading into the round don’t forget.
Batting first at Andrews Park, the visitors were shot out for just 70 in 25.5 overs.
Things didn’t look outrageously terrible for Rovers, who were 2/34, but they inexplicitly lost their next five wickets for just as many runs.
Churchill used five bowlers, all of whom took wickets.
Ryan Ayres saluted with 3/18, Chris Williams 2/10 and Ross Whelpdale 2/14 with his off breaks.
Matt Harvey and Ben Kearns then put the foot down with the bat, getting the required total in the 11th over.
Harvey made an unbeaten 36 and Kearns 31.
It looks as though Churchill is going to need a South Africa level choke to lose this flag.
Imperials def Mirboo North by 60 runs
IMPERIALS recorded a timely win, and against worthy opposition at that.
Imperials and Mirboo North bucked the trend on a wet weekend to some extent, playing in a high-scoring game on the Mercer/McKenzie wicket.
Batting first, the visitors compiled 9/231 from their 50 overs.
Most of the ‘top six club’ contributed, with James Skingle (70), Tom Starkey (62) and Nick Bulcock (39 not out) getting among the runs.
Zach Hollis took 4/62 for Mirboo North.
The Tigers made a decent fist of the chase, but were ultimately one partnership short.
Runs from Iain Allan (34) and Hollis (30) were handy, but only led to a total of 171.
The top-scorer however came from a man of mythical quality, in keeping with the season that is quickly becoming one that has seen true ‘blasts from the past’ appear on teamsheets across the league.
Coming in at seven, Shane ‘Choco’ Peters showed absolutely no signs of rust, making 38 off 73 balls.
For those unaware, Peters is a former club champion who has taken up lawn bowls and fills in for the cricket team on the odd occasion (just three games in the last four years).
With the Tigers in line to make finals, they might just try and twist his arm to commit from here on in. Fellow veteran Matt Snell also filled in for a game before Christmas, but played again at the weekend.
Imperials by the same token will likely welcome a couple of players back in coming weeks.
Opening bowler Todd Mann and top order bat Anu Anubhav did not play at the weekend, which should give Imperials more confidence as finals approach.
Latrobe def Traralgon West via DLS
TRARALGON WEST must have had a good Christmas.
That would be about the only explanation as to how an A Grade team can send down 39 wides.
The Eagles helped Latrobe considerably to a total of 6/255 and victory via DLS at Peter Siddle Oval.
Sharks opener Ronnie Chokununga happily accepted what was dished up, on his way to 106 off 133 balls.
The big-hitting right hander smacked 14 fours and two sixes, eventually departing with the score 5/233.
Salman Rasool and Jacob Bloomfield helped the cause with 31 and 27 not out respectively.
Bloomfield then enjoyed the perfect start with the ball, taking a wicket with his first delivery.
Reece Falla was the only Traralgon West bowler to assert much control, taking 2/35 off 10 overs.
With Latrobe legend Anthony Bloomfield unavailable, the Sharks called upon the next best thing – his old opening partner Justin Vajler.
Now there’s a true blast from the past (I don’t reckon Taddy would have played since 2019. Another challenge from changing to PlayHQ).
Gormandale v Willow Grove – ABANDONED
GORMANDALE was denied victory against Willow Grove.
The Tigers had the Wolves 2/35 chasing 177 before rain came down.
Taking to Stoddart Oval, the home side was asked to have a hit at the toss.
Cal Polo and Matt Hibbs gladly accepted the challenge, putting on 60 for the first wicket.
Both men had virtually identical scores when they were dismissed, Polo making 35 and Hibbs 34.
Campbell Peavey contributed 29, while a couple of others got to double figures.
A mix of old and young shared the wickets for Willow Grove. Veteran Anthony Wilkes took 3/30 and rising star Darcy Walsh 3/42, while skipper Josh Hammond nabbed 2/27.
Peavey had 2/18 next to his name when play was abandoned after nine overs.
Premier B Grade (Round 11): Ex Students 6/278 (A Jaensch 116, D Trease 50, H Canny 35, M Stockdale 32, R Hughes 2/52, B Aitken 2/55) vs Mirboo North 3/43 (C Potalej 2/10) – ABANDONED; Morwell 1/122 (R Semmler 65, C Giddens 41) vs Glengarry 7/178 (P Henry 64, A Newton 57, C Seymour 2/28, N Day 2/37, R Gray 2/39) – ABANDONED; Toongabbie 2/104 (M Dunn 77) def Churchill 100 (S Forbes 39, M Cooper 4/18, N Farley 3/19, T Hood 2/32); Traralgon West 0/21 drew with CATS 9/164 (J Bellingham 53, J Motta 43, H Bright 5/22, K Cordery 2/23); Jeeralang-Boolarra 8/91 (B McCormack 28, K O’Connell 3/13, L Morphett 3/16, S Pickering 2/22) def Thorpdale 9/90 (K O’Connell 28, H Hewawasam 4/9, G Smith 3/11).
B Grade (Round 13): Willow Grove 7/180 (M Failla 66, L Cumiskey 38, N Weatherhead 32, L Duncan 3/31, J Hayes 2/37) def Latrobe 9/166 (A Duncan 40, I Kennedy 31, J van der Stoep 3/30, N Weatherhead 2/10, J Keily 2/28); Rovers 112 (S Boyes 54, B Ould 3/12, T Shankland 3/19, C Perera 2/14) vs Centrals 4/51 (O Grant 2/21) – ABANDONED; Moe 103 (C Hill 3/11, R Sidhu 3/23, S Pooni 2/8, Z Quinsey-Munro 2/18) vs Raiders 6/96 (H Rai 53, R Blunt 3/24, B McCartney 2/3) – ABANDONED; Imperials 250 (A Moss 91, T Paulet 46, B Sizeland 41, J Scurlock 3/12, G Swan 3/26, C White 3/40) vs Gormandale 5/42 (D Loots 2/13, M McNulty 2/20) – ABANDONED.
Premier C Grade (Round 10): Morwell 2/117 (R Stanyer 50*, J Stockdale 32) def Rovers 116 (R Matthews 30, K Alam 4/13, C Monds 2/15, M Carstein 2/25); Moe 8/185 (N Reed 44, C Veenman 33, G Edwards 32*, A Scicluna 4/25) def Mirboo North 98 (A Scicluna 28, R Whitney 5/10, T Duff 2/10); Ex Students 180 vs Imperials 7/105 – ABANDONED; CATS vs Glengarry (no score supplied); Centrals vs Toongabbie (no score supplied).
C Grade: Jeeralang-Boolarra 6/151 (A Hazendonk 62, M Smallwood 3/30, J Ainsworth 2/22) def Gormandale 50 (C Stanton 3/4, A Hazendonk 2/4); Imperials 3/97 (R Martin 40, T Beattie 27) vs Willow Grove 7/174 (T Cotter 83, O Robinson 30*, R Martin 5/23, I Lawrence 2/11) – ABANDONED; Churchill 4/209 (C Dekaste 112, S Tobin 51) vs Rawson 4/35 (S Tobin 3/12) – ABANDONED; Latrobe vs Raiders (no score supplied); Traralgon West – BYE.
